Chapter XIV – Code Names and Video Games
"Damn, this is boring." Bass had been flying over the ocean for hours. So far, he had come across absolutely nothing. He was thinking of radioing in back to H.Q. just so he could hear another voice other than his own. "Hell, there's no reason why I shouldn't. H.Q., can you hear me?"
Nothing.
"H.Q., are you there?"
Still nothing. Bass sighed. He knew someone was there, there always was, and there was only one person who could possibly ignore his signal during a mission.
"I might as well feed his ego. Raptor, are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," replied X from the transmitter on Bass' wrist. "Why didn't you contact me earlier?"
"You know damn well that I did. Why the hell didn't you answer before?"
"Because you didn't use the code name."
"You don't need a bloody code name! It's not like there's anyone else I'd be speaking to!"
"What if you're trying to contact use once you reach Sigma's fortress? He'd know what was going on as soon as he heard you start sending messages to myself or Zero."
"That's why I'm not going to send messages unless it's absolutely necessary, dumbass. Now tell me if I'm on course or not."
"Why should I, after you've just insulted me?"
"Dammit, X, if don't tell me right now . . ." Bass stopped. He could hear another voice through the transmitter.
"What are you doing, X?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all, Zero. Why do you ask?"
"I can see strait through you, X. You've been bugging Bass about the stupid code name, right?"
"Um . . ."
"Bass, what do you need"
"Finally, someone who listens," muttered Bass. "Can you tell me if I'm on course?"
"Yeah, hold on a second," said Zero. After a few seconds of quiet clicking, he replied, "You're off by about twenty miles. See if there's a place where you can stop and recharge."
"There is no place, I'm in the middle of the ocean!"
"Then find some shallow water. You're bound to run out of energy soon. Zero out."
"Wait a minute! Dammit!"
After a few minutes flying, Bass started wobbling a bit. "Hold on, boy," said Bass as he patted his back. "Just a little farther." His jetpack made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a whine, then gave out. Bass started falling.
"Aah! Wake up, Treble, or you'll kill us both!" Yelled Bass as he smacked his back. The turbines on the jetpack started spinning again, and Bass slowed to a halt a few feet from the water. The force of the air being propelled by the engines of the pack pushed away the water from beneath Bass, revealing solid ground. With a lurch, the engines gave out again, And Bass fell to the ground, which was promptly covered with water again.
Bass stood up. The water seemed to be about waist deep. Treble disconnected from his back and splashed down in the water. He lifted his nose above the water, though there was no need for him to breath, being a Reploid.
"We must have landed on a coral island. Probably at high tide," Bass observed as he looked around and saw nothing but water in all directions. Treble gave a garbled bark of agreement. Bass sat down, leaving only his head above the water, then completely submerged himself. Under the surface, he could see the terrain without distortion. The island they were on was circular, and had a lagoon in the center. In the wall of the lagoon was a cave that seemed to clear-cut to be natural. He decided to explore the cave ass soon as the water level down.
Bass sat up again and started thinking of a way to pass the time until low tide. Searching though his databanks, he found that much of the information from the past fifty years had been recorded by Doctor Cain, as well as recreational programs archived though the ages. Figuratively flipping through the files, he found a folder entitled "MegaMan," and inside it were a number of programs in numerical order. 'I suppose these were the games X mentioned while I was half-concious' though Bass, as he opened a random one. The logo of the company was displayed, then the title screen appeared. A block that was shown had several holes punched in it, then a blue blast tore away the remains to show the main menu. Bass gasped, then chuckled when pictures of MegaMan and the original Bass scrolled up next to the menu.
"Damn, this is boring." Bass had been flying over the ocean for hours. So far, he had come across absolutely nothing. He was thinking of radioing in back to H.Q. just so he could hear another voice other than his own. "Hell, there's no reason why I shouldn't. H.Q., can you hear me?"
Nothing.
"H.Q., are you there?"
Still nothing. Bass sighed. He knew someone was there, there always was, and there was only one person who could possibly ignore his signal during a mission.
"I might as well feed his ego. Raptor, are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," replied X from the transmitter on Bass' wrist. "Why didn't you contact me earlier?"
"You know damn well that I did. Why the hell didn't you answer before?"
"Because you didn't use the code name."
"You don't need a bloody code name! It's not like there's anyone else I'd be speaking to!"
"What if you're trying to contact use once you reach Sigma's fortress? He'd know what was going on as soon as he heard you start sending messages to myself or Zero."
"That's why I'm not going to send messages unless it's absolutely necessary, dumbass. Now tell me if I'm on course or not."
"Why should I, after you've just insulted me?"
"Dammit, X, if don't tell me right now . . ." Bass stopped. He could hear another voice through the transmitter.
"What are you doing, X?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all, Zero. Why do you ask?"
"I can see strait through you, X. You've been bugging Bass about the stupid code name, right?"
"Um . . ."
"Bass, what do you need"
"Finally, someone who listens," muttered Bass. "Can you tell me if I'm on course?"
"Yeah, hold on a second," said Zero. After a few seconds of quiet clicking, he replied, "You're off by about twenty miles. See if there's a place where you can stop and recharge."
"There is no place, I'm in the middle of the ocean!"
"Then find some shallow water. You're bound to run out of energy soon. Zero out."
"Wait a minute! Dammit!"
After a few minutes flying, Bass started wobbling a bit. "Hold on, boy," said Bass as he patted his back. "Just a little farther." His jetpack made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a whine, then gave out. Bass started falling.
"Aah! Wake up, Treble, or you'll kill us both!" Yelled Bass as he smacked his back. The turbines on the jetpack started spinning again, and Bass slowed to a halt a few feet from the water. The force of the air being propelled by the engines of the pack pushed away the water from beneath Bass, revealing solid ground. With a lurch, the engines gave out again, And Bass fell to the ground, which was promptly covered with water again.
Bass stood up. The water seemed to be about waist deep. Treble disconnected from his back and splashed down in the water. He lifted his nose above the water, though there was no need for him to breath, being a Reploid.
"We must have landed on a coral island. Probably at high tide," Bass observed as he looked around and saw nothing but water in all directions. Treble gave a garbled bark of agreement. Bass sat down, leaving only his head above the water, then completely submerged himself. Under the surface, he could see the terrain without distortion. The island they were on was circular, and had a lagoon in the center. In the wall of the lagoon was a cave that seemed to clear-cut to be natural. He decided to explore the cave ass soon as the water level down.
Bass sat up again and started thinking of a way to pass the time until low tide. Searching though his databanks, he found that much of the information from the past fifty years had been recorded by Doctor Cain, as well as recreational programs archived though the ages. Figuratively flipping through the files, he found a folder entitled "MegaMan," and inside it were a number of programs in numerical order. 'I suppose these were the games X mentioned while I was half-concious' though Bass, as he opened a random one. The logo of the company was displayed, then the title screen appeared. A block that was shown had several holes punched in it, then a blue blast tore away the remains to show the main menu. Bass gasped, then chuckled when pictures of MegaMan and the original Bass scrolled up next to the menu.